Porter's testimony that I recall...was that Gray was OK standing by himself, but that he did ask for medical attention.. which Porter agreed to (I paraphrase from memory) It gets complicated because the prosecution have claimed Ported LIED about most things.. except the small bit about Gray asking for assistance.What Porter says and the spin the lawyers can put on it for the Jury is something we all await

_________________Do not go gentle into that good night.___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

Judge Barry Williams has set a Wednesday afternoon hearing on prosecutors' request to have a second officer compelled to testify at the next trial in the arrest and death of Freddie Gray.

Prosecutors earlier this month filed a motion seeking to order Officer Garrett E. Miller to testify at Officer Edward M. Nero's trial, which is scheduled to begin May 10 — the first case to go to trial since a December mistrial in another officer's case.

All signs indicate that the next Baltimore police officer to go on trial in the arrest and death of Freddie Gray is planning to have his fate decided by a judge instead of a jury, legal experts say.

Police officers often choose to have a judge hear their case when the allegations turn on whether their actions were reasonable, experts said. In this case, Officer Edward M. Nero's defense team could be concerned about a jury reaching a verdict based on emotion rather than a calculated reading of the law.

While Nero's choice of a trial by judge or jury won't be made public until a hearing Tuesday, the court has not taken certain steps to prepare for a jury trial. For instance, it has not announced a schedule for jury selection, as it did previously when trials of officers in the Gray case approached.

Prosecutors are expected to test a novel legal theory this week in the trial of a police officer charged in the arrest and death of Freddie Gray — that the officer didn't have the authority to detain him and therefore committed an assault by putting him in handcuffs.

The allegation could have widespread implications for policing in Baltimore and Maryland. Hundreds of detainees in the city are released every year after being arrested without being charged.

Officer Edward M. Nero's defense team argues that police shouldn't be second-guessed — and face criminal charges — when they carry out their duties in good faith, while prosecutors say officers should face consequences when their actions turn out to be wrong, and the consequences are so catastrophic.

By taking a chance with this kind of case, legal experts said, Baltimore's State's Attorney Marilyn J. Mosby must believe she is correctly interpreting the law and has the political will.

Baltimore prosecutors seek to delay Officer Nero trial due to power outageJustin Fenton, The Baltimore Sun

Baltimore prosecutors have asked that the trial of Officer Edward Nero be pushed back one day after their offices were shut down for utility work over the weekend.

Nero is the second officer to go to trial in the arrest and death of Freddie Gray, and proceedings are slated to begin Tuesday with pre-trial motions. His trial is scheduled to begin Wednesday.

Prosecutors said in a motion filed Friday that they were told by BGE that their offices at 120 E. Baltimore St. would be shut down and without power from 6 a.m. until 6 p.m. on Saturday. The work would also prevent the trial team from remotely accessing files, "effectively and unexpectedly halting final case preparations during the important last days before trial."

They asked for a one-day delay, pushing the start of the trial to Thursday.

Officer Edward M. Nero, one of the six Baltimore police officers charged in the arrest of Freddie Gray, formally elected to have a bench trial, which will begin Thursday morning in a downtown courtroom.

Prosecutors and Nero's defense attorneys appeared before Circuit Judge Barry G. Williams at a pre-trial hearing Tuesday to discuss a range of written motions filed in advance of the trial's start this week.

The hearing began with Nero's selection of a bench trial, which his attorney, Marc Zayon, said they had discussed "a million times."

Williams, who will now be the sole decider of Nero's guilt or innocence, said arguments in the case could conclude as early as next week — setting the stage for the first verdict in the closely watched proceedings.

Williams said he was satisfied that Nero understood the implications of his choice and that it is difficult to reverse that decision.

In his role deciding the verdict in the case, Williams said he is "certainly not going to be swayed by emotions."

[...]Williams said Nero's selection of a bench trial had changed some of his rulings on the motions in "a minor way," but did not elaborate. He then outlined those rulings, many on the admissibility of certain evidence and testimony.

Williams ruled that Gray's fatal injuries suffered in police custody can be mentioned, denying a defense requet to block that information. But he also denied a request from prosecutors to call medical experts to go "step by step" through those injuries.

Williams also granted a defense motion asking the court to prevent prosecutors from questioning whether the knife that was found clipped to Gray's pants pocket during his arrest was illegal.

Baltimore State's Attorney Marilyn J. Mosby said the knife was legal under Maryland law when she first announced charges May 1 against Nero and the other officers, but prosecutors backed away from that argument after the officers argued that the knife was illegal under city code.

Nero and the other officers have said the knife served as the probable cause for Gray's ultimate arrest, after his detention — which they say was based on reasonable suspicion.

[...]Beyond the motions from prosecutors and the defense, Williams also addressed a third-party motion filed by The Baltimore Sun and other media outlets, asking for broader transparency and increased access to documents and court proceedings in the officers' trials.

A new team of prosecutors has been tapped to try the cases of two officers charged in the arrest and death of Freddie Gray who have been compelled to testify against Officer Edward Nero at his trial that begins this week.

Multiple sources told The Baltimore Sun that a memo was sent out Monday night to prosecutors notifying them that Lisa Phelps, a veteran assistant state's attorney, and Sarah David, who joined the office in 2014, were selected to be part of what is called a "clean team."

Two officers charged in the case — William G. Porter and Garrett Miller — have been ordered to testify under immunity against their fellow officers, and prosecutors will have to prove that they did not allow any of those officers' testimony to influence the cases they present against them.

That means removing the current prosecutors, who have handled the case since its inception, and installing a new team that has been instructed to avoid details of Nero's trial. The email, the sources said, instructs other prosecutors in the office not to speak to the attorneys about the case.

BALTIMORE (AP) - Prosecutors say Edward Nero, whose trial in the arrest and subsequent death of Freddie Gray began Thursday, failed in his duty when he and other officers unlawfully arrested Gray, then neglected to buckle the shackled man's seat belt.

But defense attorney Marc Zayon told Baltimore Circuit Judge Barry Williams that Nero, a volunteer firefighter with a passion for helping others, was justified when he chased Gray through West Baltimore because there was probable cause, as well as a directive from the State's Attorney's Office to be bullish about patrolling that particular area.

What's more, Zayon said, was that Nero wasn't involved in Gray's arrest: The officer's only physical contact with Gray was to help him look for an inhaler he'd been asking for after he'd been placed in handcuffs.

The stop, detain, search, “assault” case appears frivolous in view of SCOTUS precedent directly on point. Flight of subject in high crime area upon sight of police = reasonable suspicion justifying a Terry stop. Illinois v. Wardlow, 528 U.S. 119 (2000). Handcuffing a resisting subject for officer safety or to prevent flight while searching for weapons during a Terry stop is also permitted, if the officer has a reasonable basis to believe the subject constitutes a threat or flight risk. Handcuffing a subject under these conditions does not constitute a de facto arrest. Since Freddie took off like a gazelle upon sight of police, there was an obvious risk of flight. Then the cops searched pursuant to Terry and found the now apparently admittedly illegal knife, and there was grounds for an arrest. Sounds rather slam dunkish to me.

The reckless endangerment — misconduct charges related to loading and securing Freddy in the van appear very dubious in view of this:

“The officer who performed the audits in 2014, Detective Edward Bailey, testified that he checked van drivers for compliance with the rules, because it was the driver’s responsibility to belt detainees.

Training instructor Adam Long, who taught cadets how to safely seat-belt detainees, also backed the idea that the “wagon man” takes control once an arrest is made.”

If Nero had no responsibility to seat belt Freddie under applicable training and police procedures, how can he held criminally liable for not seat belting Freddie?

I think Nero gets acquitted or any conviction gets reversed on appeal.

_________________Do not go gentle into that good night.___________ Rage, rage against the dying of the light

All signs indicate that the next Baltimore police officer to go on trial in the arrest and death of Freddie Gray is planning to have his fate decided by a judge instead of a jury, legal experts say.

I haven't been keeping up on this case because there is just so much else going on. So thank you for all the information here.

If Nero demands a bench trial that IMO is a brilliant move. 12 mopey jurors are always a risk and in this politically, racially motivated case the jurors are going to have all kinds of pressure put on them from the community and the immoral hack of a prosecutor, and regardless of who Voir dire process unceremoniously tosses from the box there are still going to be racist parasite rats who will convict each and everyone of these officers just because a black thug died. So we would likely get convictions of mistrials.

Let a judge convict or acquit and if the judge is so malicious and antagonistic to the law and facts as to convict, let it go to the next court on appeal.

Bravo, Mr. Nero!

_________________If your mind is agitated you will find agitation everywhere. Where else will you find peace if not within you? __ Papaji

Brandon Ross and another man were with Gray on the day Gray was arrested. Ross said he, Gray and a friend went to get coffee on April 12, 2015, but the shop was closed.

Ross said when he saw Gray arrested, he went to a neighbor and called 911 to report an assault by police. Ross said he used a fake name when he called 911 because he didn't want to get harassed by police.

Ross identified Officer Edward Nero as one of the officers at the scene of Gray's arrest. Ross showed his own video in which he identifies Nero as an officer who helped load Gray back into the police van.

Under cross-examination, Ross said Nero was not the officer who handcuffed Gray because he was retrieving police bicycles.

[...]The defense asked Ross whether drugs were sold at Gilmor Homes, where Gray was arrested. Ross answered, "Where are drugs not sold in Baltimore City?"

The defense asked Ross about claims he made to investigators that officers used a stun gun on Gray. Ross answered, "I said it sounded like a Taser."

BALTIMORE —Prosecutors in the trial of Officer Edward Nero played a taped statement he gave to investigators on the day of Freddie Gray's arrest.

The statement was taken on April 12, 2015, when Nero told investigators that he understood the Law Enforcement Officers' Bill of Rights and Miranda rights prior to making his statement.

Nero, a trained emergency medical technician, said that based on his training, he didn't believe Gray was having an asthma attack.

Nero said it looked like Gray was trying to attract attention and get people to come out after his arrest.

Nero stressed that while Officer Garrett Miller threatened the use of a stun gun, one was never used during Gray's arrest.

Nero said they were trying to get Gray in the transport van and away from the scene because of safety concerns and people beginning to gather.

[...]Baltimore police Detective Michael Boyd also testified. He was part of the task force that investigated the Freddie Gray incident that helped identify all of the officers that came in contact with Gray, including Nero and the other five defendants.

Under cross-examination, Ross said Nero was not the officer who handcuffed Gray because he was retrieving police bicycles.

[...]The defense asked Ross whether drugs were sold at Gilmor Homes, where Gray was arrested. Ross answered, "Where are drugs not sold in Baltimore City?"

Ross was led away in handcuffs after completing his testimony.

"Where are drugs not sold in Baltimore City?" <<<< This is masterful coaching, the prosecutor is trying to establish that the location where Freddie was hanging out is no different than any other location in Baltimore and therefore there is no more likelihood that Freddie was involved in selling drugs than there was he was delivering Boy Scout popcorn. At least one person on the prosecutor side may have earned a real law degree.

Problem is the good old DA herself demanded police increase patrols in that specific area, her lousy husband's district. And Freddie has a known and documented history with the Baltimore PD.

Ross was led away in handcuffs after completing his testimony. Adios Ross you chump.

Thanks that made my night!

_________________If your mind is agitated you will find agitation everywhere. Where else will you find peace if not within you? __ Papaji